Car importers have firmly rejected claims some of their models could create magnetic fields that could cause health problems including miscarriages and childhood leukaemia.
The claims were made by a researcher with a Swedish government agency and the newspaper Expressen yesterday.
Claims were made about three Volvo models (S80, V70 and S60) with batteries in the rear of the car, and some BMW and Mercedes models with rear-battery systems.
Mr Kjell Hansson Mild, a professor at Sweden's National Institute for Working Life, said the placing of the battery in the rear of the car meant the cables had to be drawn to the front of the car for the electrical appliances on the dashboard, creating a magnetic field.
Research had shown that strong magnetic fields could cause cancer, miscarriages and Alzheimer's disease, he said.
The normal safety level for magnetic fields at a workplace was 0.2 microteslas, but Mr Mild said levels ranging between 12 and 18 were recorded on the floors of the three models.
"With very simple and cheap rectifications, such as placing the battery in the front of the car, Volvo could have reduced the magnetic field," Mr Mild said.
Mr Alan Cousins, managing director of Volvo Car Ireland, said the company took all safety research seriously but he questioned the methods used in this instance.
He said the measurement of magnetic fields was a complex and uncertain area and they could vary widely if the measurement tools were moved by just an inch.
Mr Cousins said he was happy to reassure all customers that their children were completely safe in Volvo cars.
His colleague, Mr Lennart Stroem at Volvo headquarters, said the intensity of magnetic fields in those vehicles was well below accepted safety ceilings.
"There are no documented cases whatsoever, not just in Volvo cars but in any cars, of people getting cancer due to the magnetic fields in cars," he said.
A spokesman for Mercedes Benz Ireland, Mr David Byrne, said several Mercedes models had batteries in the rear of the car, and even under the floor, and there had never been any question of health problems.
A spokeswoman for BMW Motor Imports said health problems had never been associated with the rear-battery constructions in their 7 and 5 series cars.
She said there was "absolutely no evidence" that these models could damage health.
Additional reporting by AFP
